I used to absolutely love school holidays - particularly those six weeks in summer. Thinking of them now, I picture sunny days, picnics, hot rice on the beach (a game not a dish) and hay-making in the local fields.

Happy days.

But then again, I’m not a parent. My life doesn’t get turned upside down; my morning routine isn’t blown out of the water and my car journeys are rarely accompanied by cries of ‘Are we there yet?’ unless you count the excited monkey noises coming from Biskit in the boot.

‘Are we there yet?’ - the kids are so excited that they’ve set off. They’ve no idea where they are, and often don’t even know where they’re going. But that’s okay, because you do.

You know your destination, and you don’t really have to think about how you’re getting there, or plot your route, because you have your trusty sat nav to keep you right and tell you when you’re going to get there.

Do you even remember the days when you would plot your route to a new destination on your map, and then have your other half give you directions - turn left, turn right, do a u-turn - as you went along your way?

The information system we now have available to us is quite incredible:

Digital information about your fuel - how much you have in the tank, how many miles you’re getting to the litre, how many miles you can go without refuelling

An odometer telling you how many miles your car’s done

A temperature gauge telling you how hot or cold it is outside

A speedometer to keep you legal

The list goes on…

A glance at your dashboard now gives you all the key information about how your journey’s going and how your car’s performing.

If the temperature gauge goes up, or the oil light goes on, you’ll take immediate action. You might then set yourself reminders to check your oil, water and tyre pressure once a month to prevent any future problems. Or you might take it to a specialist more regularly to get it serviced.

The dashboard gives you all the information you need to keep your car running smoothly and efficiently. Which prompts me to ask…do you have a similar dashboard of information for your business?

A one-page dashboard of key performance indicators, telling you how your business is doing and measuring your progress?

A one-page snapshot of the facts and figures that are important to you and your business - Customer satisfaction, revenue, profit, team satisfaction. You decide.

It’s a great way to measure, manage and then improve the systems that keep your business running as smoothly as your car!

Do one thing: Think of the 4 or 5 pieces of information that are critical to your business, and create your own one-page business dashboard.